Lace making



Patented Dec. 8, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE JOSEPH F. X. HAROLD, OF YON KEBS, NEW YORK LACE MAKING No Drawing.

- tion such as chemicalized buckram or crinoline or a sized cotton fabric treated with sulphuric acid, and the lace is then stitched or formed on this ground fabric and after the lace has been so made the ground fabric is removed therefrom by heating the composite fabric whereupon the ground fabric carbonizes and disintegrates so that the remains thereof maybe separated from the lace. This method of removal of the foundation fabric is however, attended with certain disadvantages. There is a serious risk of destroying or injuring the lace by reason of the generation of acid vapors, produced in the heat nee-- essary to carbonize. This is especially the case when chlorides generating hydrochloric acid on heating are used in etching the ground. For this reason a bland reagent in the removal of the solubilized or temporary 'fibre is most desirable and by this I mean 7 a reagent without harmful action on the permanent fibre. By the term solubilized I mean to indicate cellulose treated to make it readily soluble in a reagent or reagents which do not readily dissolve cotton or other cellulose textile fibers in their normal state. For the cheaper grades of goods, paperhas been employed as a foundation, the paper being removed by digestion with water which takes a longtime. This method is also un-- it here and there as the lace is being formed thereon and so producing unsatisfactory work. Other forms of foundations have been The main object of the Application filed March 24, 1925. Serial m. 18,032.

suggested but have been found to be so expensive that they have been little used.

According to my invention in its preferred form, I provide a ground or foundation fabric of cellulosic fiber such as cotton and 65 treat the same so that it is rendered relatively soluble with respect to ordinary cotton fabric and then after stitchingor forming the lace, embroidery or the like on the foundation fabric, whlch serves as a support for the lace,

embroidery or the like, while the same is being formed, I dissolve away the treated foundation fabric by soaking the same in or passing the same through a solution of a solvent of the treated fabric which is not a solvent of the untreated lace, embroidery, etc., whereby cheaply removed and the lace, embroidery etc. freed therefrom. By this method I am able to use as a foundation fabric, one of cotton or cellulosic fiber which is relatively cheap and yet which has ample tensile strength for the work in question. While the foundation fabric of cellulosic fiber may be rendered soluble in various ways, I prefer to do this by using cotton cloth and passing the same through a mixture of sulphuric and nitric acids made by taking 1000 parts by. volume of concentrated sulphuric, acid of commerce and combining it with- 600 parts by volume of strong commercial nitric acid so that the actual amount of H SO, is about 60% and the actual HN'O is about 20%. These acids arecarefully and slowly mixed while cooling or chilling and stirring and after they are thoroughly mixed and the temperature thereof is reduced to about 60 Fahrenheit, the fabric .is introduced therein. This nitrates the cotton forming nitro cellulose thereof, but the fabric still retains its fibrous condition and itsstrength is not materially weakened. Care must be taken that the acids are not too strong so as to material- 1 weaken the tensile strength of the fabric.

herefore, for any particular fabric it is preferable to make preliminary trials with small pieces of the fabric which are dropped in the mixed acids for about ten minutes and then well washed in cold water and then in hot water and the strength thereof then compared with the original fabric. If it is found not be so strong as to materially weaken the fiber. After the fabric has remained in the acid solution for about ten minutes or until' the desired'modification has been obtained, it is withdrawn fromthe bath and immediately drenched with a large volume of cold water and given a prolonged washing to remove the acid. It ma then be passed through a very dilute so ution of carbonate of soda containing about 1/50% of Na Co and then dried. The fabric thus prepared is inflammable but it can be rendered substantially flame-proof by treatment with zinc chloride; or the fabric after being taken from the acid bath and washed with cold water may be rendered substantially free from residual acid and at the same time rendered substantially flame-proof by passing-the same through a solution of zinc chloride containing a little zinc carbonate in suspension.

From this bath thefabric may then be removed and dried. To be more certain of the removal of the acid and flame-proof quality of the fabric, it may again be put through the zinc chloride and zinc carbonate bath if desired. 'A little glycerine, say amounting dissolved by placing the combination or.

multiple fabric composed of the lace, embroidery, etc. and foundation, in a-.10% caustic soda solution and slightly warming it. The ground fabric should dissolve away rapidly leaving the lace, embroidery or the nitrate of cellulose, it may be treated with like free therefrom. By a complex fabric I mean a mixed fabric of variable constituents but in one plane, for example; double weave, poplin a mixture of linen and silk, cotton shirting with silk stripes, etc. By a multiple fabric I mean a .series of fabrics, in more than one plane for example :'a mans'collar, containing a face, alining and a back.

Instead oftreatingthe cotton fabric to form suitable chemicals to form a fabric or fibers of'other cellulose derivatives such as acetate or cellulose, hydro-cellulose, and other solvents may be used in place of the caustic alkali. For example, the nitrated fabrlc may bedissolved and detached from the lace, em-

broidery, etc. by using acetone as a solvent or by using a mixture of ether and alcohol or other organicsolvents in which case the dissolved fabric" instead of forming a product which would go to waste, results in a solution suitable for making lacquers, a collodion, an enamel or waterproofing composition. A slight amount of such solution remaining in the fabric and dried therein is often advantageous. If the ground fabric be treated to form acetate of cellulose thereof, it may likewise be dissolved in either caustic soda or organic solvents to form useful by-products as above explained.

Other vegetable fabrics such as fabrics of linen, jute, ramine, etc. may likewise be hydrolyzed or otherwise rendered relatively soluble and used as the base fabric and even certain grades'of paper may be treated with acids or other chemicals to secure a degree of hydrolyzation or.-solubility which brings about a very little weakening of the tensile strength thereof and yet good solubility in caustic liquors or other solvents. The ground fabric may likewise be rendered relatively soluble by a complex chemical action thereon as for example by producing a fabric, the fibers of which are relatively soluble by reason of being partially hydrolized and partlally esterified'either at one and the same time or serially and either by-a complex and dualaction in one bath of chemical or a se-- ries of single actions in sequence. Thus an ephemeral fabric may be formed in'various ways which is readily and easily soluble as compared with the lace or other element st tched or formed thereon whereby after the latter has been formed the former may be easily and quickly removed therefrom by solution.

It will be seen further that I have provided a foundation or reinforcing element for fabricsof "various kinds which is easily removed from the finished goods when desired by the simple method of solution and without injury to the remaining permanent fabrlc or elements thereof and at the same t me my invention in its pre ferrcd form provldes 1n the resulting solution a useful byproduct capable of various uses. The fabric maybe made of materials modified and solubilized before spinning or weaving or it may consist of a web or felted sheet that is not produced by textile operations. r

Therefore, while I have described my improvements in great detail and with respect to certain forms and modifications thereof, I do not desire to be limited to such details, forms or modifications since many other modifications and changes may be made and the invention embodied in wideli difi'erent Lssasee forms without departing from the spirit and scope thereof in its broader aspects. Hence I desire to cover all of the forms and features coming within the language or scope of any one or more of the appended claims.

By the term fabric I mean such a. fabric as is sometimes designated by the term textile fabric, i. e. not a wire fabric nor afelt and not broadly something fabricated, but a sheet-like article made up of strand-like bodies such as yarns or threads by interlacing such strand-like bodies by methods such as weaving, or knitting". By natural I mean as formed by or occurring in nature, and I do not include artificial strands of material such as artificial silk under this term.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. The method of making lace or the like which consists in nitrating a fabric of cellulosio fiber without materially weakening the fabric, forming the lace on the said fabric and then dissolving the said fabric to free the lace therefrom.

2. The method of making lace or the like which consists in forming a fabric of nitrated cellulose fiber, forming the lace thereon as a foundation and dissolving the said fabric with a solvent'of nitrated cellulose to free the lace therefrom.

3. The method which consists in forming a fabric of nitrated cellulosic fiber, forming another fabric thereon and dissolving the first to free the second therefrom.

4. The method of making lace or the like which consists in treating cotton fabric to change the cellulose thereof into a cellulose derivative soluble in a reagent harmless to cotton without materially decreasing the strength of the fabric, forming lace of .cellulosic material on the treated fabric as a foundation and then dissolving the treated fabric to free the lace therefrom.

5. The method which consists in forming a fabric on a'foundation ofsolubilized cellulose fabric and then dissolving the latter with a solvent of the latter and not of the former to free the former from the latter.

6. lhe method which consists in treating a fabric of cellulosic material to render the cellulose thereof soluble in a reagent that does not dissolve normal cellulose, forming another fabric thereon and dissolving the first fabric to free the second therefrom.

7. The method which consists in treating a fabric of cellulosic fiber to render it soluble in an organic solvent without materially decreasing its strength, forming another fabric thereon, and dissolving the former away from the latter with an organic solvent.

8'. The method which consists in forming one fabric on another, the fibers of said fabrics being of common origin, the fibers of the latter being pretreated to render them rela-j to" free the former therefrom.

9. Asa step in lace manufacture, freeing a lace or the like of relatively insoluble material from a backing of solubilized cellulosic material by the use of a reagent that dissolves the backing readily.

10. The method of making a fabric backing for embroidery and the like which comprises treating a fabric of cellulosic fibers to render it soluble in a reagent harmless to normal cellulose while preserving the form and useful tensile strength of the fabric.

11. The method of. making a fabric backing for-embroidery which comprises subjecting a. cotton fabric to the action of nitrating chemicals to nitrate the fibers of the fabric substantially completely and thus render it soluble in reagents harmless to normal cellulose while preserving the form of the fabric and its useful tensile strength.

12. The method of making a soluble em broidery backing which consists in nitrating a cotton fabric to render the same soluble in a reagent harmless to normal cellulose while preserving the form and useful tensile' strength of the fabric, bilized fabric with a same more fire resisting.

'13. The method of making a soluble embroidery a cotton fabric to render the same soluble in a reagent harmless to normal cellulose while preserving the form and useful tensile strength of the fabric, and treating the soluand treating the solubilized fabric with a softening agent'and I with a reagent .to render the same more fire resisting.

14. The method of making a fabric backing for embroidery and the like which coming agent and with a reagent to render the same more fire resisting. i

16. A foundation fabric for embroidery consisting'essentially of cellulosic fiber solubilized to attack by a reagent harmless to.

normal cellulose.

17 'A foundation fabric for embroidery I consisting essentially ofcellulosic fiber solubilized to attack by a reagent harmless to normal cellulose,-said fabric containing a fire resisting agent. v

18. A foundation fabric for embroidery backing which consists in nitrating reagent to render the consisting essentially of cellulosic fiber solubilized to attack by a reagent harmless to normal cellulose, said fabric containing a fire resisting agent. and a softening agent. i

I 19. A foundation fabric for lace-making consisting essentially of solubilized natural cellulose fibers said fabric retaining useful tensile strength. I

20. A foundation fabric for lace, embroidery and the like consisting essentially of esterified cellulose and retaining its useful tensile strength.

21. The combination of a foundation fabric and a lace fabric attached thereto, the lace being. of normal cellulosic material and the foundation being of solubilized cellulose.

22. The combination of a foundation fabric and a lace fabric attached thereto, the lace being'made'of thread of normal cellulosic material and the foundation being of hitrated cellulose.

23. The combination of a foundation fabric of solubilized' cellulose and a fabric of lace or the like attached thereto.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

JOSEPH F. X. HAROLD. 

